Spiegel was seen by some as a pioneer of the New York new-music scene. She withdrew from this scene in the early 1980s, believing that its focus had shifted from artistic process to product. While she continues to support herself through software development, Spiegel aims to use technology in music as a means of furthering her art rather than as an end in itself. In her words, "I automate whatever can be automated to be freer to focus on those aspects of music that can't be automated. The challenge is to figure out which is which."[3]

Spiegel's best known and most widely used software was "Music Mouse—an Intelligent Instrument" (1986) for Macintosh, Amiga, and Ataricomputers.[7][8] The "intelligent-instrument" designation refers to the program's built-in knowledge of chord and scale convention and stylistic constraints.[9] Automating these processes allows the user to focus on other aspects of the music in real time.[10] In addition to improvisations using this software, Spiegel composed several works using Music Mouse including "Cavis muris" in 1986, "Three Sonic Spaces" in 1989, and "Sound Zones" in 1990.[4] She continued to update the program through Macintosh OS 9, and as of 2012, it remained available for purchase or demo download from her Web site.[8]

In addition to electronics and computer-based music, Spiegel's opus includes works for piano, guitar and other solo instruments and small orchestra, as well as drawings, photography, video art, numerous writings and computer software.[7] In the visual domain, Spiegel wrote one of the first drawing or painting programs at Bell Labs, which she expanded to include interactive video and synchronous audio output in the mid-1970s.

Pursuing her concept of visual music, she was a video artist in residence at the Experimental Television Lab at WNET Thirteen in New York (1976).[11]She composed series music for the TV Lab's weekly "VTR—Video and Television Review" and audio special effects for its 2-hour science fiction film The Lathe of Heaven, both under direction of David Loxton.[12]

In addition to computer software development, starting in the early 1970s, Spiegel has supported herself by both teaching and by soundtrack composition, having had steady work throughout the 1970s at Spectra Films, Valkhn Films, the Experimental TV Lab at WNET (PBS), and subsequently for various individual video artists, animators, and filmmakers. Spiegel did much less accompanitive music in the 1980s, during which she focused on creating music software and consulting in the music technology field, as well as additional teaching at Cooper Union and NYU[7] where she established NYUs' first computer music studio.

Spiegel's early musical experiences were largely self-directed, beginning with the mandolin, guitar, and banjo she had as a child, which she learned to play by ear.[13] She taught herself Western music notation at the age of 20, after which she began writing down her compositions.[14]

Spiegel attended Shimer College through the school's early entrance program, which allows students to enter college without having completed high school.[15] She subsequently attended Oxford University, initially through Shimer's Oxford study abroad program, under which students spend a year continuing the Great Books core curriculum in Oxford while taking tutorials from Oxford.[16][17]

After receiving her AB degree in the Social Sciences from Shimer in 1967,[18] Spiegel stayed in Oxford an additional year,[16] commuting to London to study guitar, theory and composition with John W. Duarte.[18] After moving to New York, where she briefly worked in social sciences research and documentary film, she went on to study composition with Jacob Druckman and Vincent Persichetti at the Juilliard School from 1969 to 1972, privately with Emmanuel Ghent, then she relocated along with Druckman to Brooklyn College, completing her MA in Music Composition there in 1975.[1]

Charlie Brooker sets his caustic sights on video games.

Expect acerbic comment as he looks at the various genres, how they have changed since their early conception and how the media represents games and gamers. Features interviews with Dara O'Briain, sitcom scribe Graham Linehan and Rab and Ryan from Consolevania.

Level Up explores the video gaming culture from the perspective of a wide range of gamers starting with casual smart phone gamers to avid, professional gamers, LAN Party organizers and video game cont

Technology has changed the way that people can play games, from casual gamers who play a few times a week or month on their phone, to those who play every day and make a living playing professionally. This documentary takes the audience on a journey through all the levels of gamers providing testimonials and background information from each group.

Level Up explores the video gaming culture from the perspective of a wide range of gamers starting with casual smart phone gamers to avid, professional gamers, LAN Party organizers and video game content creators. The documentary covers a brief history of video games and their social angle, as well as the competitive aspect engendered by large-scale gaming events. This is a current and relevant topic examined through interviews and research and presented in an interesting and engaging manner.

Charlie Brooker sets his caustic sights on video games.

Expect acerbic comment as he looks at the various genres, how they have changed since their early conception and how the media represents games and gamers. Features interviews with Dara O'Briain, sitcom scribe Graham Linehan and Rab and Ryan from Consolevania.